Abstract

Authors: Rachel Baynton (University of Lincoln) & Michael Pinchbeck (Manchester Metropolitan University)

A bench with a plaque reading Sit with us for a moment and remember is placed in a public space. An audience member sits on the bench and a one-on-one performance takes place.

In 2018, The Lincoln Company presented Sit with us for a moment and remember at the Edinburgh Fringe where it was performed over 100 times. The piece explores commemoration, memory and loss. In this short, Baynton and Pinchbeck discuss the process of co-creating an ensemble performance that enables audience and performer to engage in ‘A brief encounter that is both sweet and sorrowful’ (The Guardian).

Framed as a conversation between Baynton and Pinchbeck, this co-authored chapter addresses the ethics involved in ‘staging’ site-specific one-on-one performance in a public space, with reference to The Long and Winding Road (2004-2009). They ask how one-on-one performances, and Sit with us… in particular, activate a space in which performer and audience member can co-create an experience. The short builds on Zerihan’s assertion that one-on-one performance ‘ignites response-ability in its audience’ (Zerihan 2008)